Wednesday, 22 September 2010

FIRST DAY BACK AT WORK.

And when you’re not here I hurry through the histrionicsOf the day as honestly as possible:Making safe the pavements that my son’s begun to travel;Carving half a chicken after blistering its skin;Soothing mother’s mood with music lifted from the FiftiesAnd generating sighs of great relief once all’s complete.

But still the empty minutes stack once those I’ve packedWith diligence have had their fillAnd filed themselves for me to rate much later.And still the empty hours tower over my time’s hoover,Proving that no matter how hard I fasten myself to dutyI’ll be left fruitless at the end of its conclusion without you.

And all the fizz of wished achievements; all the glitz Of entertainment’s idiots; all the bought goods, the thoughtlessBid wins and greedy media acquired cannot aspireTo the undeniable sum of your company,Or the wonder that you breathe into the free timeBefore I succumb to sleep’s compulsive numbness.

So when you eventually bless me this evening,Shorn as it will be of yesterday’s measure of meaningfulSeconds, I will beckon you closer to my mouthAnd whisper shout just how much you structure me,And how time spent without you near, even when still so far,Is more rewarding than any spent alone.